It began as a matter of procedure. Amidst Donald Trump’s momentous victory last month, Republican Dave McCormick narrowly ousted Democratic incumbent Bob Casey in Pennsylvania’s Senatorial race. The result was a shock. Casey was a three-term Senator with deep political connections, deeper pockets, and even deeper roots: his father had been the keystone state’s Governor from 1987 to 1995. Casey was a legacy Senator whose seat was assumed to be all but secure. His assets weren’t enough to save him from the red wave that swept the nation. Cassey lost to McCormick by only 0.4%, giving Republicans the Senate with a sizable 53-47 lead.
That small gap was no small technicality. Under Pennsylvania state law, any statewide election with a result smaller than 0.5% triggers an automatic recount. The Associated Press and Fox News had already called the race for McCormick on November 7th, two days after the election, but Casey refused to concede for an additional two weeks. Before the recall started, the meddling began.
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Shortly after election night, county election boards began counting provisional, mail, and overseas ballots. These are ballots that, for a variety of reasons, could not be counted or verified on election day but which had already been cast. The problem was that many mail-in ballots lacked properly dated return envelopes, while provisional ballots were missing required signatures. The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court had issued a ruling in September holding that officials cannot count votes from mail-in or absentee ballots that lack accurate, handwritten dates on their return envelopes. In fact, the State Supreme Court had issued the same ruling once before as far back as November of 2022.
That didn’t stop state election officials, however. Democrat-run Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties moved to count these illegal ballots in open violation of the State Supreme Court’s September ruling. It also just so happened that these ballots predominantly favored Casey. Over the ensuing two weeks, McCormick’s lead winnowed from 24,000 votes, a margin of about 0.4%, to around 16,00 votes, or just 0.24%.
Democrat election workers didn’t even try to obfuscate their actions. Chair of the Bucks County Board of County Commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia defied the State Supreme Court’s ruling, saying, “We all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country and people violate laws any time they want.” By precedent, Ellis-Marseglia was referring to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. She added, “So, for me, if I violate this law it’s because I want a court to pay attention. There’s nothing more important than counting votes.” Consequentially, numerous illegitimate ballots were counted in the Senate race.
Poll workers only stopped counting these non-compliant ballots once the State Supreme Court issued another ruling on November 18th, ordering the errant counties to cease their activities. Casey never commented on or publicly reprimanded the poll workers from his own party who were working to his advantage, despite mounting pressure to do so. On November 20th, the official race recount began. With no significant change in the vote share, on November 21st, Bob Casey finally conceded the race.
By refusing to concede, whether deliberately or not, Casey kept the race open long enough for poll workers in three blue counties to continue accepting illicit ballots. These were ballots that the State Supreme Court had ruled were illicit twice before the election and once again when counties moved to include them. Had the Court not intervened, it is possible that they would have kept counting until they found enough ballots to flip the race. It was only once the Court ordered the counties to stop that Casey finally conceded.
One thing is clear from this near-nightmare: the incoming Trump administration should professionally investigate what went wrong in Pennsylvania. It was a bold strategy for the Democrats to attempt given that we already knew by November 6th that Trump would be returning to the White House. Come January and the new administration, I hope the Department of Justice seriously looks into the race with zeal.
Poll workers only stopped counting these non-compliant ballots once the State Supreme Court issued another ruling on November 18th, ordering the errant counties to cease their activities. Casey never commented on or publicly reprimanded the poll workers from his own party who were working to his advantage, despite mounting pressure to do so. On November 20th, the official race recount began. With no significant change in the vote share, on November 21st, Bob Casey finally conceded the race.
By refusing to concede, whether deliberately or not, Casey kept the race open long enough for poll workers in three blue counties to continue accepting illicit ballots. These were ballots that the State Supreme Court had ruled were illicit twice before the election and once again when counties moved to include them. Had the Court not intervened, it is possible that they would have kept counting until they found enough ballots to flip the race. It was only once the Court ordered the counties to stop that Casey finally conceded.
One thing is clear from this near-nightmare: the incoming Trump administration should professionally investigate what went wrong in Pennsylvania. It was a bold strategy for the Democrats to attempt given that we already knew by November 6th that Trump would be returning to the White House. Come January and the new administration, I hope the Department of Justice seriously looks into the race with zeal.
Such an investigation is only possible because Trump won, however. Policy is personnel, and in today’s divisive times, unfortunately having the right people in place can be the difference between a valid or a stolen election. What we also need are stronger laws and reforms in place to cut down on weak points.
To prevent such chaos from repeating in future elections, Pennsylvania must implement comprehensive reforms to restore integrity and efficiency to its election system. One of the most crucial changes would be allowing election officials to pre-canvass mail-in ballots before Election Day. The current system, which delays processing until polls close, creates opportunities for confusion, errors, and post-election disputes. By allowing ballots to be verified and prepared ahead of time, the state could avoid the prolonged delays and legal wrangling that marred this race.
Additionally, Pennsylvania should establish clear, uniform standards for handling defective ballots, including “notice and cure” procedures. Right now, counties apply inconsistent practices, with some voters given the chance to fix issues like missing signatures while others are not. A standardized approach would ensure that all voters are treated equally under the law, preventing county-level partisanship from undermining public trust. Requiring voter ID for mail-in ballots and bolstering the security of ballot drop boxes with constant monitoring would further protect the integrity of the process and restore confidence in election outcomes.
Of course, the left will fight these reforms like rabid dogs. As we’ve seen both in this election and in 2020, the opportunities for abuse are everywhere, up and down the whole system. It will take a complete draining of the swamp — not just the D.C. swamp but the swamps in every state around the country — to make sure this can’t happen again.
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